To provide a critical reflection of COVID-19 in the context of oncology nursing and provide recommendations for caring for people affected by cancer during this pandemic. Data sources: Electronic databases, including CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsychINFO, Scopus, professional web sites, and grey literature were searched using Google Scholar. Conclusion: Nurses are key stakeholders in developing and implementing policies regarding standards of care during the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic poses several challenges for oncology services. Oncology nurses are providing a pivotal role in the care and management of the novel COVID-19 in the year landmarked as the International Year of the Nurse. Implications for Nursing Practice: It is too early to tell what shape this pandemic will take and its impact on oncology care. However, several important clinical considerations have been discussed to inform oncology nursing care and practice.
The use of a neutropenic diet (ND) after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) was instituted more than 30 years ago as a means of preventing infection from organisms colonizing the gastrointestinal tract. Evidence supporting this practice is lacking, however, and the actual efficacy of the ND remains unknown. Institutional policy at Northwestern Memorial Hospital discontinued the use of ND in 2006. We conducted a retrospective study of 726 consecutive HSCT recipients, 363 who received an ND and 363 who received a general hospital diet, to determine the incidence of microbiologically confirmed infections during and after transplantation. Our findings indicate a higher rate of infections in the HSCT recipients who received an ND.
The prevention of infection is an important outcome to measure in patients with cancer because infectious complications are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Nurses play a vital role in the prevention of infection in patients with cancer through nursing practice, research, and patient education. However, many common nursing interventions to prevent infection are based on tradition or expert opinion and have not been subjected to scientific examination. The 2005 Oncology Nursing Society Prevention of Infection Outcomes Intervention Project Team reviewed, critiqued, and summarized the research evidence for nursing interventions to prevent infections in patients with cancer. Pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions were included because many advanced practice nurses prescribe medications. This article is an evidence-based review of nursing interventions to prevent infection in patients with cancer.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.